‘A true American hero’
South Florida soldier laid to rest; Trump dustup barely acknowledged
Sgt. La David Johnson was remembered during his funeral Saturday as a dedicated family man who loved sweet tea and could hold a wheelie on his bicycle for an entire block.
As his 2-year-old son, dressed in a white shirt, slacks and red bow tie, ran down the aisle of Christ the Rock Church in Cooper City, friends and family spoke glowingly of the 25-year-old serviceman who was killed along with three other U.S. soldiers in an Oct. 4 ambush by Islamic militants in Niger.
“No soldier signs up without a passionate love for country.” Pastor Darrell Owens
There was no mention of the controversies surrounding President Donald Trump’s phone conversation with Johnson’s wife or the ensuing clash between White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson. Instead, speakers remembered a young man devoted to his family and to his Army service, with youthful high spirits and generosity.
“He wanted a better life for his family, and that’s what he did,” said Donald Young, Johnson’s best friend.
“He was the only guy I knew who took off on a 7- or 8-mile run and come back and hydrate with sweet tea,” Young said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“You’re gonna be missed, man, thank you for everything you did for your family and thank you for everything you did for this country.”
The family procession entered the church at 11 a.m., women wearing white dresses and men white shirts and white slacks, accessorized with splashes of red — red carnations, red bow ties, red hats and red shoes.
“We pray for clarity for the circumstances surrounding his death,” said a young man in the opening prayer, the only reference during the 90-minute funeral to the questions that have arisen about the the attack.
About 1,000 people attended the funeral, including dozens of men and women in military uniform and local elected officials, including Cooper City Mayor Greg Ross, Wilson and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
As some latecomers settled into their seats, Lamiyah Williams sang “Withholding Nothing,” which she said was one of Johnson’s favorite songs. The phrase, “I give you all of me,” was repeated throughout the tune.
Johnson’s mentor and supervisor, Dennis Bohler, said through tears that Johnson was polite and respectful.
“He was all about his family, that’s all he talked about,” Bohler said. “There was T the barber trying to cut my hair for $5, then there was T the chef, T the mechanic and T the stunt rider.”
The Miami Gardens resident graduated from Miami Carol City Senior High in 2010, according to his obituary. He joined the Army in January 2014, and married his childhood sweetheart, Myeshia Manual, seven months later. The couple had two children and a third is on the way. Johnson was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and left in August for his second deployment to Africa.
Wilson steered clear of the controversies of the past few days, focusing instead on the solemn scene of the arrival of the soldier’s body in Miami.
Myeshia Johnson touched the hearts of many Americans, she said, with her mournful embrace of her fallen husband’s flagdraped coffin, minutes after his body returned to Miami on Oct. 17. Wilson accompanied the widow to the airport.
“Watching her as she received her husband on Tuesday was an incredibly powerful moment, please know you are loved and have the support of millions of people,” Wilson told Johnson, who was seated in the first row.
A GoFundMe page dedicated to the family is approaching $750,000, Wilson said. Johnson’s military accomplishments will forever be etched in this country’s history, she said, through an official congressional record that will be placed in the Library of Congress.
“He is a true American hero,” she said.
Senior Pastor Darrell Owens told the crowd that Johnson stood for love.
“No soldier signs up without a passionate love for country,” he said. “This life was not taken, this life was given. No one takes a soldier’s life, a soldier lays his life down.”
“You’ve been entrusted with an American treasure in your genealogy,” he told the widow.
Johnson was buried at Hollywood Memorial Gardens.